The Guthrie Theater, one of America's premier regional theater companies, on Thursday unveiled plans for a $125 million building on the banks of the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis. Designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, who also is shaping a Guggenheim Museum in Rio de Janeiro, the building would house a 700-seat proscenium stage, a 250-seat studio theater, and a 1,110-seat auditorium that would recall the signature "thrust" stage of the Guthrie's current home. The most...

The Twin Cities are far from identical. St. Paul, the Minnesota capital and host to the Republican National Convention this week, historically looked to the East Coast for architectural inspiration and retains a human-feeling scale. Minneapolis boasts the 57-story IDS Center, in front of which TV's Mary Richards famously threw her hat up each week, and a growing number of gleaming skyscrapers. Both, however, are committed to developing their Mississippi riverfronts and have enlisted top architects to...

Jean Nouvel, the boldly experimental French architect who shaped the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and other buildings that simultaneously respond to their surroundings and transform them, on Sunday was named this year's winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, his field's highest honor. The 62-year-old Nouvel, whose name fittingly means "new" in French, becomes the second French architect to win the prize, bestowed annually by Chicago's billionaire Pritzker family on a...

The Twin Cities are far from identical twins. St. Paul, the Minnesota capital and host to the Republican National Convention this week, historically looked to the East Coast for architectural inspiration and retains a human-feeling scale. Minneapolis boasts the 57-story IDS Center, in front of which TV's Mary Richards famously threw her hat up each week, and a growing number of gleaming skyscrapers. Both, however, are committed to developing their Mississippi...

In its 33 years, the Guthrie Theater has produced distinguished drama ranging from the Greeks to Arthur Miller; but, for sheer audience-pleasing attractions, it has had some of its greatest successes with flashy revivals of hit American musicals. Garland Wright, the very serious theater artist whose 10-year tenure as the theater's artistic director ended Nov. 30, had made big hits out of revivals of "Anything Goes" and "Guys and Dolls" at the Guthrie in earlier years. Appropriately, he chose the revival of...

Christopher Markle, a theater professor at Northern Illinois University and an accomplished professional stage director, died Monday, July 28, in Kishwaukee Community Hospital in DeKalb, Ill., said his wife, Sophia Varcados. Mr. Markle, 53, of DeKalb died of natural causes, Varcados said. "Chris was a unique artist and teacher," said Alexander Gelman, director of NIU's School of Theatre and Dance. "There was an old-fashioned quality to his artistry, and it was always wrapped in inspiration...

Liviu Ciulei, installed amid great excitement five years ago as artistic director of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, is resigning his post at the end of this season, leaving behind him a farewell production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" that provocatively illustrates the qualities of theatrical daring that typified his work at the Guthrie. When Ciulei, a Romanian expatriate, arrived at the major resident theater outpost of the Guthrie in 1980,...

Today's Twin Cities represent some of the best of what American urban centers provide visitors: a vibrant downtown (certainly in Minneapolis), good lodging at most price-points, legendary shopping, plenty of live music and theater, museums, spectator sports, a dose of history, a variety of restaurants and a transport system that makes access reasonably easy. No wonder it's one of the region's finest options for a fun weekend. TWIN CITIES Location: Eastern Minnesota, about 400 miles NE of the Loop ...

To find a British Shakespearean actor with the New World drawing power of Ian McKellan, you almost have to go back to William Charles Macready, the famed 19th Century touring tragedian. But not only did Macready predate scalpers, he was a culturally divisive figure. His "veddy proper" Shakespearean interpretations so upset the fans of the muscular American actor Edwin Forrest, the ensuing riots at New York's Astor Opera House in 1849 left 22 people dead. Thanks to Gandalf ("Lord of the Rings")

Today's Twin Cities represent some of the best of what American urban centers provide visitors: a vibrant downtown (certainly in Minneapolis), good lodging at most price-points, legendary shopping, plenty of live music and theater, museums, spectator sports, a dose of history, a variety of restaurants and a transport system that makes access reasonably easy. No wonder it's one of the region's finest options for a fun weekend. Location: Eastern Minnesota, about 400 miles NE of the...

The Goodman Theatre has been selected the nation's best regional theater by Time Magazine, which chose five theaters that "best focus on new work ... and serve their local audiences." Artistic Director Robert Falls "has supplied Broadway with acclaimed adaptations of American classics . . . and has nurtured such important new voices as [playwright] Rebecca Gilman," the magazine reported in the edition that goes on sale Monday. Regional theaters are booming, with 1,800 theaters in...

1. Which of the following statements did Sharon Stone, above, not make following the earthquake that killed tens of thousands in China? a. "Then this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and I thought, 'Is that karma?'" b. "They're not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a good friend of mine." c. "Of course, I feel for all of those poor children." d. "I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else." 2. Widely admired filmmaker Sydney Pollack died last weekend.

Here are 10 things Chicago arts organizations -- and the planners of future new arts facilities here -- could learn from the new Guthrie Theater. 1. Open the building at all hours. The Guthrie's doors open early every morning and stay open until last call. People flock to the facility -- for eating, drinking, strolling, sitting, gawking -- whether or not they are seeing a show. No Chicago theater does the same. 2. Show off the backstage In most performance venues, the...

Renowned Minneapolis architect Ralph Rapson died of a heart attack March 29 at his home, a spokesman for his company, Ralph Rapson and Associates Inc., confirmed. Mr. Rapson, 93, was one of the world's oldest practicing architects and one of the most prolific. His defining work was the former Guthrie Theater building across from the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. His resume also includes the Rarig Center for Performing Arts on the West Bank of the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis, the...

Christopher Markle, a theater professor at Northern Illinois University and an accomplished professional stage director, died Monday, July 28, in Kishwaukee Community Hospital in DeKalb, Ill., said his wife, Sophia Varcados. Mr. Markle, 53, of DeKalb died of natural causes, Varcados said. "Chris was a unique artist and teacher," said Alexander Gelman, director of NIU's School of Theatre and Dance. "There was an old-fashioned quality to his artistry, and it was always wrapped in inspiration...

Jean Nouvel, the boldly experimental French architect who shaped the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and other buildings that simultaneously respond to their surroundings and transform them, on Sunday was named this year's winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, his field's highest honor. The 62-year-old Nouvel, whose name fittingly means "new" in French, becomes the second French architect to win the prize, bestowed annually by Chicago's billionaire Pritzker family on a...

1. Which of the following statements did Sharon Stone, above, not make following the earthquake that killed tens of thousands in China? a. "Then this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and I thought, 'Is that karma?'" b. "They're not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a good friend of mine." c. "Of course, I feel for all of those poor children." d. "I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else." 2. Widely admired filmmaker Sydney Pollack died last weekend.

Here are 10 things Chicago arts organizations -- and the planners of future new arts facilities here -- could learn from the new Guthrie Theater. 1. Open the building at all hours. The Guthrie's doors open early every morning and stay open until last call. People flock to the facility -- for eating, drinking, strolling, sitting, gawking -- whether or not they are seeing a show. No Chicago theater does the same. 2. Show off the backstage In most performance venues, the...

To find a British Shakespearean actor with the New World drawing power of Ian McKellan, you almost have to go back to William Charles Macready, the famed 19th Century touring tragedian. But not only did Macready predate scalpers, he was a culturally divisive figure. His "veddy proper" Shakespearean interpretations so upset the fans of the muscular American actor Edwin Forrest, the ensuing riots at New York's Astor Opera House in 1849 left 22 people dead. Thanks to Gandalf ("Lord of the Rings")